Feasability of Zinc Oxide Nanowire as a Temperature Sensor: An Analytical Study

The feasibility of Zinc Oxide (ZnO) nanowire as a temperature sensor was demonstrated by analytical study. A good quality I(V) model had been fitted with the experimental data on a single ZnO nanowire. It was found that the carrier concentration and mobility measured were 2.95×10¹⁸ cm⁻³ and 1.72 cm² V⁻¹ s⁻¹, respectively. The I(V) model suit with the three-dimensional structure because their de Broglie wavelength smaller than the sample size. The current was observed to increase when the temperature applied increased from 27 °C to 277 °C. It was found that the carrier (electron) play an important part on current change. It was also found that the nanowire structure is more sensitive by a factor of 2 compared to nanowire film although the performances of the nanowire film was enhanced by the piezotronic effect.